Philadelphia Police Arrest 68 People In Kensington Drug Sting
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia police say a two-day Kensington drug sting has netted 68 arrests.
Undercover officers from the Narcotics Strike Force worked the streets near Front and Somerset in Kensington last Thursday and Friday night. The drug sting was organized after complaints from residents and City Council members were filed about open-air drug dealing.
68 people were arrested: 19 dealers and 49 buyers, 15 of whom are from the suburbs.
Strike Force Captain Lee Strollo hopes this will be a lesson for others.
"You want to get your buyer into a program, and maybe the arrest is a wake-up call," said Strollo. "And maybe it's a wake-up call for their family and maybe they can get the help they need, and we don't see them back here. And at the very least, we don't want to see them back in Philadelphia."
Strollo said 42 hundred dollars worth of heroin was confiscated, along with 885 dollars in crack cocaine, and 3600 dollars in cash and 10 vehicles. This sting was done at night. A similar springtime police operation was done in the daytime.
Strollo said the Strike Force's message is, there's no good time to buy drugs in Kensington.
